Israel-Gaza latest: Hamas armed wing in Lebanon ‘fires rockets at Israel’; Gaza becoming

The Pentagon has said there have been “thousands” of casualties in Gaza, but did not specify how many.

Joe Biden previously cast doubt on figures provided by the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza, but international humanitarian agencies consider them broadly accurate.

Earlier, the ministry said the number of people killed in the territory since the start of the conflict had risen to 10,022.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said today: “As it related to civilian casualties in Gaza… we know the numbers are in the thousands.”

Mr Biden said last month he had “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using”, without elaborating.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the numbers were “clearly sourced”, while the World Health Organisation’s Health Emergencies Programme said they “reflect the level of death and injury”.

Human Rights Watch said the casualty figures were generally reliable, and that it has not found big discrepancies in its verification of past strikes on Gaza.

But an Israeli military spokesman said the Gaza health ministry “continuously inflates the number of civilian casualties”.